The mobile gaming industry is no doubt the segment of the gaming industry that influences all types of people, young and old, casual and hardcore. Sadly, the mobile gaming industry is also the segment industry that doesn't present itself in the best way, in my opinion.
With the chance to play casual and addicting games on the go at relatively low prices (averaging $2 - $3 for most mobile games), And with the technology in smartphones and tablets to produce some very high quality visuals, It makes sense that many people would play games on their mobile. Games like Infinity Blade, Angry Birds and Asphalt Racing amongst other mobile classics like Doodle Jump and Tetris help propel mobile gaming to a whole new level. One that gave anyone with a phone or tablet access to countless array of fun games, classic or modern.
What the casual mobile gamer may not know is that the absolute best games in the industry are mainly found on living-room consoles. PS4, Xbox One, PS3, you name it, living-room consoles and desktop computers are where you'll enjoy gaming at its best. And mobile gaming can help influence casual players to take a look at the Last of us-es, and Uncharted-s that they're missing out on. Now, It might be difficult to get a casual mobile game player to try get into 15 hour long, lengthy campaigns. Promoting lengthy games on mobile in an attempt to get players to try living-room consoles wouldn't really work out so well. I mean, who'd want to play a 15 hour long game on a 5-inch screen?
Focus on the Narrative!
By now, we know that video games don't necessarily have to be lengthy in order for us to have a good time. Games like Brothers: A Tale of 2 Sons or Gone Home, have shown that a 2 to 3 hour long game can give us as good a story as a 7 hour or 10 hour long campaign. It's not about how long the games are, It's about what's inside the game that matters. And the more mobile games that adopt this approach - creating short narrative focused games - The easier it will become for mobile gamers to try console gaming.
Take the Walking Dead Video Game by Telltale Games, It's extremely narrative focused, the entire game can clock in at 10+ hours. But when divided through the course of 5 episodes, The game doesn't seem that long anymore. Walking Dead is the perfect game on mobiles and tablets for an excellent story. More games like this should be made if mobile gaming were to help promote console gaming, Heck, more games like this should be made in general.
Enough With All the CLONES
At a certain point, the top 3 apps on the iOS App Store were Flappy Bird type clones. Flappy Bird was such a huge overnight success that, literally, hundreds of clones started to appear after it was taken down. Most of the games copy the exact same mechanics and type of environment without even the slightest extra polish put into them.
And this doesn't just apply for Flappy Bird. Remember Doodle Jump? There are also many clones for that game in the app store now. Many hidden gems in the App Store and Google Play Store STAY HIDDEN because they're buried under a mountain of clones that stand on top of the Top Games section. It's totally unfair. Google and Apple should start cleaning up thier respective app stores. Don't make the mobile gaming market look like a cold unforgiving sea of cloned games.
Like I said before, Mobile gaming is enjoyed by most of the world, more than console gaming. It can make a big difference if greedy companies and developers were decreased to a minimum. This post is not written to criticize how bad the mobile gaming industry is, rather, this post was written to show what the mobile gaming industry can do to bring the best gaming experiences and stories to players everywhere. Which just happens to mostly be in console and desktop computer games. What do you think about the mobile gaming market? Comment below!
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